


a rose she never got to gift

by ellarree



Category: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra | Phantom of the Opera & Related Fandoms, Love Never Dies - Lloyd Webber, Phantom of the Opera - Lloyd Webber
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Createcember 2020, F/F, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I’m an editor at heart, Kinda, Language of Flowers, Loss, Megstine isn’t canon but there’s nothing in canon that contradicts it, Not Beta Read, POV Third Person Limited, Pining, Requited Unrequited Love, Sad with a Happy Ending, again that’s only technically true tho, although you only see one side of it, i might write Christine’s POV someday, it isn’t even violets this time, meg giry is gay for christine daaé, megstine, takes place between Phantom and LND, technically, there are not enough megstine fics in existence, you choose how to look at it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2020-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:41:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27900931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellarree/pseuds/ellarree
Summary: Meg doesn’t want to leave Paris behind, but she knows that she must.
Relationships: Christine Daaé/Meg Giry
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	a rose she never got to gift

**Author's Note:**

> written for day 5 of my createcember challenge. prompt: Loss

Meg watches as Paris fades away into the distance, the silhouettes of her childhood rocking up and down with the motion of the boat. Beside her, a ghost in a plain white half-mask kneels on the deck, fingers still gripping a scrap of lace and a single rose petal, both drenched in saltwater and tears. The wind tosses Meg's loose curls in front of her face, and for that she is grateful. Her mess of blonde curls serves as her own sort of mask.

They stay there, barely moving, for what feels like a lifetime, until France is nothing but a memory. Meg feels as though she should be excited — she's never so much as left Paris before, let alone crossed the ocean to America — but her thoughts keep straying back to the past. She remembers stolen moments in quiet dormitories, gifted roses fading from yellow to pink, brief embraces before rehearsals. A red rose, hidden with her clothes, that she never got to gift after that final tragic performance. The winding, trap-laden path leading deep below the opera house, where Meg had made one final desperate attempt to find the elegant songbird and swear never to let her go. Promises to herself that she would never see fulfilled, roses that would wither away ungifted. The deck of the ship rocks back and forth and Meg sways with it, lost in the past.

That last journey had ended in despair: a single mask left behind to signal where the mysterious composer had fled; a lacy white veil crumpled on the damp stone, one corner ripped off; a charred red lasso still tied to the portcullis. Another would have missed the meaning in these seemingly innocuous details, but Meg knew what it truly meant. The only way forward was to leave, to forget about elegant chorus girls and scorned prima donnas. It broke her heart to leave behind all she had ever known, but a broken heart can repair itself if given enough time. To stay would have been to invite death into a haven of vitality, to ruin lives aside from her own. If only the vicomte alone would be affected, she would certainly seize the chance in a heartbeat, but never in a thousand years would she do such a thing to dear Christine.

Meg jolts back to reality, realizing that she has become lost in reminiscence before even reaching her new life. And yet she cannot help but wonder if Christine even remembers her, if perhaps Meg is not alone in her longing for what can never happen. If Christine yearns for Meg, even with an ocean between them.

Their future together is lost, that much is certain, but the memories and fanciful yearnings will remain.

**Author's Note:**

> my power went out like three sentences into writing this, so if it seems extra angsty that’s probably why
> 
> also are y’all proud of me for not killing ANY characters this time? see i have some restraint


End file.
